For a year, I have lived in a rather medium-sized town in the south of Sweden. One of the most interesting experiences I have had is how organised the traffic system is. Pothole-free roads, well-marked roads, traffic lights, bus lanes, zebra crossings and streetlights. There are walking lanes and bike lanes, and people mostly respect the different walking or biking paths and use them accordingly. I mean that is not even the most ideal. It is wonderous that once a driver spots you walking towards the zebra crossing he or she stops, even if you haven’t reached the point of crossing. And I am not exaggerating.
I have never witnessed even a single road accident while in the town, not even two people who have put their cars on the side of the road to argue a bit before the cops appear to solve the problem amicably or push it on to the insurer or a towing company. Even in the most adverse of winter conditions, during the winter season, I never witnessed any form of accident. I have travelled across different cities within Sweden, including the capital and I have not witnessed any sort of major or minor accident.
Children, who are old enough in Sweden, the accepted independent mobility age, can comfortably take the bus to school or on their various errands. They are allowed by their parents to go out, simply because the parents trust there is the general governance and sense of public good that the cars will stop at the crossing points, the lights will work and public buses will be driven by well-meaning, competent drivers.
I am not sugarcoating anything, this is a common conversation that we have amongst ourselves with fellow foreigners from the global south, and whose countries are still working towards good road infrastructure.
In Kenya, our major public roads are of international standards, gone are the days of potholes. They are probably now just in the smaller estate roads. It’s good to note the major accidents we are witnessing on a daily basis are not on the estate roads with potholes. They are on our well-done roads, meaning, the Government has to a good extent done its part in having the right infrastructure in place.
The bit that is left is we citizens, the responsible ministry and law enforcement. Meaning, we need to drive with civility. Let us avoid over-speeding, unnecessary changing of lanes, sudden stops on roads, driving unroadworthy vehicles, avoiding road rage.
We should have special care and consideration of children and the elderly and follow road signs and signals. All these changes in traffic-related behaviour needs to start from the estates all the way to the major highways. We must call out and report rogue drivers, even if it means on public platforms like social media sites, and boycott public bus companies that are break the rules.
In the very near future, as the government enhances development, we as citizens are requesting ideal, safe roads. These are roads that can have special walking and cycling lanes, well-marked and maintained roads. We insist on the arrest of rogue and drunk drivers. This issue of restoring sanity to our roads is complex, but we have already witnessed too much, from school bus accidents, from the tragedy with KU students to the ‘minor’ day-to-day normalised accidents.
When exactly will we have peace of mind when travelling within our own beautiful country, CS Murkomen?
Communications researcher and scholar, currently pursuing peace and development work studies in Sweden ([email protected])
